Click on
            the above image for a 2x size

            
 Click on
            the above image for a 2x size

The Moon is usually represented by images in shades of grays and pure black. We now know however that the moon is geologically differentiated, and the various rock types have certain pale hues which can be easily recorded by film and CCD. What prompted me to do this project was the article in the March 1996 issue of Sky and Telescope on Lunar coloration. You can see a scan of the single page article HERE. The image on the left is a standard three color RGB image of the moon taken with my ST8i CCD, properly darkframe subtracted and flat fielded. The eye will see a view similar to this. On the right, the color saturation has been increased about 75 %, revealing the blues, yellows, and ruddy coloration of the various geologic rock types. For example, the Sea of Tranquility is quite bluish, due to basalt with high levels of titanium. Mare Serenitatis is brownish red showing a later lava flow over the blue, and Mare Imbrium is quite a mix of blue and reddish lavas. Some of the colored regions on the moon have earned names as well, as listed below.

            

            
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            the image for a 2x size


            
Woods Spot, Aristarchus,
            and Copernicus. 


            
The very bright crater
            to the left is Aristarchus, and just to its left is one of the
            most intensely colored areas on the moon, known as "Woods
            Spot". This contains the famous Schroters Valley and is
            an extended lava flow. Copernicus is bluish, and represents much
            younger material excavated from the depths.

            

            
 Click on
            the image for a 2x size


            
Mare Imbrium, Sinus
            Iridium Region


            
One of the best known areas
            on the Moon for color contrasts in lava flows. The bluish gray
            floor of Imbrium has been overlain by a billion year old reddish
            flow that took place later in time. Sinus Iridium is fully filled
            in with the reddish material, and part of Plato is as well.

            

            
 Click on
            the image for a 2x size


            
Mare Serenitatis
            and Tranquillitatis


            
Another superb area for
            comparative coloration. The steely blue of Tranquility is quite
            a contrast against the ruddy lava flows in Serenity. 

            

            
 Click on
            the image for a 2x size


            
Proclus and Mare
            Crisium Area


            
Note the blue rays extending
            from the brilliant fresh crater Proclus in the lower center of
            the frame. Just below it, Palus Somni is a bit reddish, as is
            a strip of lava to Proclus's upper right in Crisium.

Instrument:  12.5" f/5 Newtonian
Date:  2/15/03
Platform:  Astrophysics 1200
Exposure:  .1
Filters:  RGB
Location:  Payson, Arizona
Elevation:  5150 ft.
Sky:  Seeing 5/10, Transparency 8/10
Outside Temperature:  0 C
Processing Tools:  Photoshop, Maxim

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